Monday This and That ...

Greetings everyone. I've been pretty busy around here lately so I haven't been able to post as much as I would like to. We have had Leo back and forth to our vets - both Dr. Lila and Dr. Mike have been working, DILIGENTLY I might add, to help us figure out why Leo is having some type of seizures. The blood tests originally showed him with a very high glucose level and therefore diagnosed him to be diabetic. Dr. Mike immediately called in a prescription for him for insulin and syringes at our pharmacy. He has been put on a strict diet and we had to keep running him to the vet during the week to get his blood sugar checked. Both vets told us that his blood sugar is back to normal and to stop the insulin injections for the time being. We are to keep the insulin the refrigerator for six months in the event that Leo should ever need it again, but Dr. Mike said that Leo seems to have gone into remission and is currently no longer considered "diabetic" at this point.  

That is the good news. However, we are still not sure exactly what had been causing his seizures but we have been keeping an eye on him and for the past couple of days he has not appeared to have had the episodes that we have noticed. Fingers crossed. He will still need to continue his prescription diet for the rest of his life, but that is not a problem at all as he seems to be eating fairly well. And, per our vet's instructions, we also bought a Alpha Trak for cats and dogs so that we can check Leo's blood sugar at home from now on. 

In other news, my Victorian boots for my masquerade costume this year finally arrived in the mail this past week ... Leo decided to join me in the bottom pic ...

Also, we have been getting some bad thunder storms in our area here lately. One in particular this past week managed to knock down one of our trees in our back yard and it came within inches of our neighbor's shed ...

The neighbor's shed is on the right. These two pics were taken after we moved the tree.

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Leo Update

As many of you are already aware via my previous post, we had scheduled our youngest kitty, Leo, for an appointment with our family vet. After a long, in depth consultation with Dr. Hoy, she agreed to allow us to try giving him 10 mg of Amitripyline. Amitripyline is a prescription drug used by many vets to aid in calming down indoor cats who suffer from severe anxiety issues and/or excessive hyper-activity/aggression. Some cat guardians also use this medication when they must travel with their cats, thus reducing the kitty’s stress level.

 

Unlike some other prescription drugs for pets, this one takes time to build up in the animals system and therefore usually takes a few days or so to see any type of affect or improvement. At this time, we are instructed to give Leo a ½ a pill once per day. Since we are always home in the evenings, we have decided to begin giving him his dosage before bedtime as to get him on a set schedule. Though they are rare, there may be possible side effects to look out for such as vomiting, dry mouth, etc. I, personally, know of a few people who have given their cats this particular medication and their cats have had no problems or medical issues with it what-so-ever. I am told that the only thing about Amitripyline is that you must be sure to be diligent when administering it and not to miss even one days’ dosage. If you do, you must begin the cycle all over again as this medication takes time to accumulate in the cat’s system enough to actually help them. And, as with any medication, the dosage/mg is determined by the cat’s body weight and so on.

 

As I have said many times in the past, we always try the homeopathic methods first before even thinking about putting any of our cats on any type of medication unnecessarily. And, we are hoping that this option will only be a temporary solution in the long run. In the interim, we will still have his blood work checked periodically for as long as he is taking his medication in order to monitor his liver and kidney levels ~  just to be on the safe side.

 

In addition to the medication, our vet had also given us the links to some different website address we can utilize:

 

https://indoorpet.osu.edu/cats

http://doctorsophiayin.com

 https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/virtual-pet-behaviorist/cat-behavior/behavioral-medications-cats

 

 

 

So far, so good.



Back Home Again

Tonight we picked up Leo at the vets after his surgery this afternoon. He has no stitches and they gave us plenty of pain meds for him. He had a cone around his neck so that he couldn't get to his front paws, but we took it off as soon as we got home and saw that he couldn't eat very easily with it on. 

Mr. Midnight keeping Leo good company!

Last night, we bought a big bag of "Yesterday's News" cat litter at the pet store. Of course, Kiki had to check it out ...

He must have as little physical activity as possible and he will have to lay low for the next few days or so. Once he heals, we are hoping to finally get him acclimated and settled in with the rest of the family. Please wish us all luck. With five indoor cats, we are going to need it!

This and That

Happy Saturday all! Just a couple of things this weekend. First off, we took Leo to the vet for his booster shot appointment and to schedule a date for his front declaw surgery which will be on Tuesday morning. After that, he is free to roam the rest of the house and get adjusted to his new siblings.

Next, just a quick reminder to set your clocks an hour ahead this Sunday for (cough!) daylight savings time in Spring. They are calling for temperatures in the 40's this week and spring is finally on it's way. Have a great weekend everyone!

Houston, we may have a problem

Since Leo's vet appointment a few weeks ago, we have kept him in our holding cage downstairs, bringing him up and letting him stretch his legs a bit and play. Lately, he has been showing unusal signs of aggression which makes me extremely nervous. He had not been around the other cats and the vet told us to keep him quarantined for six months in the event that he begins exhibiting signs of rabies from whatever bit/attacked him outside before we had a chance to bring him in permanently.

He is a sweet kitty, but we must also look out for our other four fur babies as well. We have noticed as of late that he will rear at us and try to bit or swat us for an unknown reason while petting him or trying to pick him up at all. The other night, while trying to put him back into the cage, he grabbed my face and punctured me with his claws, drawing only a little blood as he could have done much worse. It is getting harder and harder to take him back downstairs, yet we can not simply keep him completely caged for six whole months!

There are no blood tests for rabies that our vet can perform, however, I have found some information on PetMd.com.

Symptoms and Types:

There are two forms of rabies: paralytic and furious. In the early symptom (prodomal) stage of rabies infection, the cat will show only mild signs of CNS abnormalities. This stage will last from one to three days. Most cats will then progress to either the furious stage, the paralytic stage, or a combination of the two, while others succumb to the infection without displaying any major symptoms.

Furious rabies is characterized by extreme behavioral changes, including overt aggression and attack behavior. Paralytic rabies, also referred to as dumb rabies, is characterized by weakness and loss of coordination in the cat, followed by paralysis.

This is a fast-moving virus. If it is not treated soon after the symptoms have begun, the prognosis is poor. Therefore, if your cat has been in a fight with another animal, or has been bitten or scratched by another animal, or if you have any reason to suspect that your pet has come into contact with a rabid animal (even if your pet has been vaccinated against the virus), you must take your cat to a veterinarian for preventive care immediately.

The following are some other symptoms to watch for in your cat:

• Pica
• Fever
• Seizures
• Paralysis
• Hydrophobia
• Jaw is dropped
• Inability to swallow
• Muscular lack of coordination
• Unusual shyness or aggression
• Excessive excitability
• Constant irritability/changes in attitude and behavior
• Paralysis in the mandible and larynx
• Excessive, dripping salivation (hypersalivation), or frothy saliva

Is his aggresstion due to us secluding him for so long and thus confusing him not being fully adapted, or something, much, much worse? I am horribly worried about this and I truly pray that he is okay. We will continue to try to take care of him for as long as possible, but it breaks my heart to think of losing him. We lost Mr. Earl Gray, our last stray male we tried to rescue, and if we lose Leo as well I will seriously consider never taking in another one again. It is just too much to bear and extremely hard for me to deal with anymore.

Leo the Lion Heart

Happy Thursday everyone! Just a little update on the newest member of our feline family, Leo. We took Leo for his vet appointment on Wednesday evening. Dr. Heather examined him and upon taking a good look at his horrid wounds said, "Wow! These are pretty nasty. He's lucky to be alive!" Mind you, the entire time she is looking at him, he is purring happily.

Indeed, they were much worse than we even imagined, although he surprisingly did not require any stitches. She sedated him so that she could thoroughly clean up his wounds and cuts, neuter him, give him convenia (an antibiotic injection), give him something for worms, and perform a FeLuk test immediately. To our relief, his results were negative. After a few nail-biting hours spent at the vet's (and Leo a bit groggy from being sedated), we were able to take him home with us. 

The only problem is that since he is a stray and we do not know whether or not he had a rabies vaccination (highly unlikely), and we do not know what kind of animal attacked him (raccoon, groundhog, other?) we must have him quarantined for up to six months! Meaning, no contact with other animals and even our contact is limited as there is no test available to find out if an animal has the rabies virus.

We will do whatever is necessary to get Leo "the lion heart" back on his feet so that he can join the rest of the family for, Goddess willing, a very long time.